Rosalind Penderwick
Rosalind Penderwick is the eldest of the Penderwick children and the daughter of Martin and Elizabeth Penderwick. She is responsible and mature, looked up to by her younger siblings. She most often takes the postion of OAP (Oldest Available Penderwick). She lives on Gardam Street with her family. The Books Early Life Rosalind was devastated about her mom dying from cancer and promised her mom to take care of her younger siblings, Skye Penderwick, Jane Penderwick, and Batty Penderwick. The Penderwicks After finally arriving at Arundel Gardens, Rosalind meets and immediately becomes smitten with a handsome young man named Cagney, Mrs. Tifton's gardener. Rosalind is thrown into a whirlpool of emotions over whether or not it is appropriate to have such a crush on Cagney at the tender age of 12, especially while acting like a maternal figure to her three younger sisters. Rosalind the responsible Penderwick. The book portrays her as the prettiest of her sisters, being the eldest, and it also seems like she is the one most affected by her mother's death. She often skips out on engaging in childlike play with her sisters and instead helps the adults. Though she's clearly the one in charge of her "troops," she never comes off as bossy. She is dismayed and embarrassed when she realizes that Cagney is with another girl and only sees her as a little kid, and hopes that she didn't come across as too eager to spend time with him, as she was constantly making him brownies. She is kind to Jeffrey, and while she doesn't develop as close of a relationship with him as Skye and Jane, who are closer in age to him, she is always there for him and serves as his level-headed adviser throughout the story, especially at the end when he plans to run away from home. The Penderwicks on Gardam Street New neighbors move in, and Tommy Geiger begins to like Rosalind. While trying to sort out her feelings for him, she is also, along with her sisters, Skye, Jane and Batty, putting forth the Save Daddy Plan to stop her father, Mr. Penderwick, from dating and falling in love, thanks to Aunt Claire. She later realizes that Iantha is the perfect match for her father, and that she and her sisters all want her as a stepmother. They construct a new Save Daddy Plan, and catch the scientist that was stealing Iantha's computer with her research because he claimed she was stealing his research, which was not true. Tommy then reveals his feelings for her, and they agree to start dating at age 13. The Penderwicks at Point Mouette Rosalind is largely absent from The Penderwicks at Point Mouette while she vacations with best friend Anna in New Jersey. She has the first viewpoint of the story, as she anxiously waits for Skye and Jane to give Batty a bath and dress her as a "dry run." When Skye comes back sopping wet to report the disaster of Hound getting in the tub, Rosalind briefly touches on the irony of the situation (dry run, wet sister). She is upset when Skye tries to look up the Latin word for revenge (regarding Mrs. Tifton), knowing that Skye is unhappy with OAP-dom. When Jane arrives carrying a stack of Iantha's books, Rosalind singles out Bilgewater '' as an odd title and tells Jane that they are not age appropriate. She then goes to call Batty for a MOPS and discovers her in the closet. Rosalind comforts Batty with the notion of them being part for two weeks, while re-packing the clothing Batty has strewn across her room. Rosalind leads the MOPS and introduces a list of rules to the three younger sisters. She is shooed off at the end of the MOPS, and leaves the next day, much to Skye's despair. Rosalind makes frequent phone calls throughout the book, though she is kept in the dark about the severity of both Aunt Claire and Jane's injuries, ankle and nose respectively. She mentions having a relaxing vacation full of fun and sleeping in with Anna. Rosalind arrives home before her sisters and feels that the house is slightly unfamiliar and tries to give Asimov a toy. She is elated when her sisters arrive and recount their adventures. She and her sisters welcome their father and Iantha back from the honeymoon with Ben. The Penderwicks in Spring Rosalind is absent for the beginning of the fourth book, as she is at college. Batty is excited for her homecoming and has a countdown. Much to her family's dismay, she and boyfriend of five years Tommy Geiger had broken up before both going away to college. Rosalind comes home early with a junior named Oliver, who the rest of the family (and neighbor Nick Geiger) don't care for. Although not officially in a relationsip, Rosalind eventually breaks up with Oliver, much to everybody's relief. After Batty's eleventh birthday party, Rosalind gives Batty a necklace with a musical note on the gold chain as a gift. Batty noticed writing on her sister's arm, which she questioned her about. Rosalind confessed that she still had feelings for Tommy, and at that moment, Rosalind and Batty were approached by Tommy himself. Following a brief conversation, Rosalind and Tommy agreed to talk after the party and went on a walk in the park while holding hands. The two got back together afterwards. The Penderwicks at Last The last installation to the series sees the Penderwicks revisit Arundel for Rosalind’s marriage to long time boyfriend Tommy Geiger. She and Tommy initially plan to marry at the Penderwicks' Gardam Street home, but decide upon Arundel as a venue instead. Rosalind and Tommy get happily married at Arundel. more coming soon Personality Rosalind is caring and responsible, and as the eldest sibling has done a great deal looking after her family since her mother died four years prior. She acts, in more than one way, as a parent-like figure to her sisters, particularly to Batty, and usually is the voice of reason. She is most often the one who sees fit to call the MOOPS (Meeting of Older Penderwick Sisters) and the MOPS (Meeting of Penderwick Sisters), taking the initiative before the others. Rosalind is prone to worrying, becoming very anxious and unsettled when her father was dating, and misses her mother the most of all the sisters. She, according to Batty, still cries in her sleep sometimes. However she is still really a young girl, and she experiments with make-up, dresses and crushes. She develops feelings for Cagney, the gardener at Arundel Hall, but it takes her a long time to realize that it is only puppy love.But when Tommy arrives, Rosalind tries to figure out what she’s feeling, while with Cagney, she thought she knew right away. She enjoys baking and is quite skilled at basketball, being one of the best girl's basketball players in her school, and able to outshoot most of the boys as well. She spends a lot of time with or contacting her best friend, Anna. Appearance Rosalind is described as being very pretty, with dark curls and dark eyes. Her colouring comes from her father's side of the family. She looks very similar to Jane and Batty. Most boys think she is pretty, and both Jane and Batty consider her to be the most beautiful sister. Relationships Family Skye Penderwick - Skye and Rosalind are like chalk and cheese. They have very different interests, personalities and viewpoints, and Rosalind often tells Skye off. Skye is rowdier than Rosalind and they often clash over rule-breaking. However, Rosalind cares for her and has often been known to help her sister out when she's in trouble. Jane Penderwick - Jane and Rosalind usually get along well. Like the rest of her family Rosalind occasionally gets exasperated by Jane's constant Sabrina Starr stories, but she is proud of her sister too. Jane and Rosalind look similar, with curly brown hair and dark brown eyes. Batty Penderwick - Rosalind promised her mother before she died that she would take care of Batty. She kept her word and acts as a mother-figure to her. Batty waits for her to read a bedtime story before she goes to sleep. Very rarely is she satisfied by one read by anyone else. Rosalind picks her up from daycare at the end of each day. Martin Penderwick - Like her siblings Rosalind loves her father dearly and is very close to him, though this does not prevent her from withholding information from him if she thinks it is best, or if she is too embarrased to talk about it. Elizabeth Penderwick - Of all her sisters Rosalind was the closest to their mother, having known her the longest; being eight years old when she died. Rosalind still misses her terribly, crying in her sleep sometimes. She and her sisters hold their parents in high esteem, so naturally she became conflicted and anxious when she disagreed with her mother's plan for Martin to begin dating. Rosalind keeps a picture of her on her drawer. Iantha Aaronson Penderwick - ''coming soon Ben Aaronson/Penderwick - coming soon Lydia Penderwick - coming soon Claire Penderwick - She is Mr. Penderwick's younger sister and the Penderwick girls' favourite (and only) aunt. She married Turron Asabere, a friend of Alec McGrath whom the Penderwicks later found out was Jeffrey's father, after meeting him during The Penderwicks at Point Mounette. ''She has two children with him named Marty and Enam. Love Interests Cagney - Rosalind fell in love with Cagney, the Arundel Hall gardener, as soon as she saw him. She made it her business to learn as much about him as she could, and sent him gifts, such as so many batches of brownies that she memorized the recipe, and a book on the Civil War, one of his interests. She sent many long letters to Anna about him, who in turn gave her relationship advice. Rosalind seemed oblivious to the age gap and his obvious platonic relationship with her. When she discovered that he already had a girlfriend, Kathleen, she was horrified and decided never to worry about boys again. Before the Penderwicks leave Arundel he gives her a rose bush as a parting gift, which she plants beneath her window in Gardam Street. Tommy Geiger - Tommy and Rosalind have known each other since kindergarten, and have lived as neighbors on Gardam Street as long as any of the children can remember. They have been friendly rivals for a long time, but new, deeper affection for Rosalind becomes apparent at the beginning of ''The Penderwicks at Gardam Street. However, only Jane notices that poop really tastes good she is the only one that notices this and so Rosalind and jane had an argument about janes addiction and decided to take a break from eachother and now have lost touch with each other., Trilby Ramirez, for several weeks, during which he and Rosalind have an argument and decide to ignore each other. During this time Rosalind and Tommy try to deny that they has feelings for eachother. Eventually, the two make amends and, Tommy having left Trilby, begin dating after Tommy's thirteenth birthday in April. Oliver - Oliver is a college junior that Rosalind meets in her freshman year. He agrees to give her lifts home from college and the two are quite close, as he frequently puts his arm around her and calls her 'Rosy'. None of Rosalind's family like Oliver as a person and approve of their relationship though, so she eventually ends it. Friends Anna - coming soon Nick Geiger - He is Rosalind's neighbour and her boyfriend Tommy's older brother.